Meagan Kerlin

Almost all things are digital now in business–marketing, mail and everything else. It is possible to even hold meetings, interview candidates for employment and close deals through Skype and other means of digital communication. In many ways, this makes life easier. It’s faster and simpler to do things like stay in contact with prospective customers and employ new marketing strategies on social media. Yet, despite the many benefits of the internet, digital marketing and social media, there is still much to be said for the personal touch—like old school business cards.

Business cards are a great example of how a little bit of the old school plus a small personal touch can be a powerful tool to help you make better connections and build stronger business relationships. Not that long ago, people exchanged contact information by swapping business cards. Most business relationships were built on handshakes and eye contact, not a Facebook message or an email. This is still incredibly important. In fact, making the effort to see people face to face instead of solely relying on digital contact methods can mean stronger organic growth for your business.

When you hand someone a business card, you are not only looking him or her in the eye and potentially making a strong impression, you are showing initiative and demonstrating that you are prepared. You do not have to hand someone your card to do these things, but it is certainly much harder to show when your only means of communication are online. Business cards are only one example of how important it is to employ a personal touch whenever possible. Handshakes, phone calls and meeting people in person is still incredibly powerful–don’t set these things aside for the sake of convenience.

In today’s constantly connected digital world, people are starving for real and authentic connections. The personal touch still matters, so don’t underestimate how effective it can be to initiate business relationships face to face, in person and with an old-fashioned handshake.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Most people start their own business because they dream of being their own boss and controlling their own career path. These are fantastic reasons to jump into entrepreneurship, but owning a small business does not guarantee your success, nor does it mean that you will make a lot of money. (Very sorry) There are many misconceptions about entrepreneurship, and whether you are already years into your business-ownership journey or you haven’t quite decided to make the plunge, it’s always good to have a healthy perspective on your plans, your future and what owning a small business could mean for you.

Many entrepreneurs start out with a romanticized conception of what it will be like to own a small business. In reality, it is often a long, arduous road to success. Anything worthwhile takes hard work, and not everyone is designed to deal with the proverbial roller coaster ride of entrepreneurship. Despite what many people think, it’s not easy, and success rarely comes overnight. It can take months or even years for hard work to pay off in terms of growth and profit.

One common misconception about owning a small business is that it requires one big and brilliant idea to make it work. A big idea is a good reason to start a business, but it is not the only one. Even the best and seemingly novel concept can fail, and success often has more to do with hard work and consistency than one single sexy idea. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel or invent a breakthrough technology in order to have a successful business.

Entrepreneurship is not an easy path, and you have to be the one to decide if it’s worth it. If you are willing to put in the hard work, practice patience and adapt and learn as you go, it could be the right choice for you. Before you launch your small business idea, think carefully about the road ahead and do whatever possible to be prepared for your entrepreneurial adventure.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Good sales techniques are key to growth in business. You must be able to convince someone that you are offering a product or service that he or she needs, which is not always possible on your first contact with the prospective client or customer. The right follow-up technique is a critical part of your success and sustainable profits, but there is an art to doing this in a way that is both effective and easy.

No one likes to be pestered. Outside of a cowbell at a college football game, constant badgering from someone trying to make a sale is one of the most annoying things on the planet. While you certainly don’t want the contact to forget about you, too much follow-up is a sure-fire way to make sure you never see that person’s money. On the other side of that coin, a certain amount of follow-up can be the difference between making a sale and allowing that contact to float away. When done the right way, a second (or third or fourth) contact can be what drives your sales in a positive direction.

The amount of contact you may need to make should be determined by the product you are selling and by any deals or deadlines. Contacting a prospect once per week is generally safe, but you could bump it up a bit if you are running a special that will expire soon. After a certain amount of time has passed, usually after three tries, you can archive the information for that contact for another rotation in the next quarter.

Choosing the right format is another key to a successful follow-up. Email is a great communication tool, but that is not always the most effective way to contact a prospective customer. In today’s text-and-go society, fewer sales calls are actually made by phone. People still appreciate a personal touch, so pick up the phone for your next follow-up attempt. You never know when someone may actually answer and you will have opportunity to employ your personality and in-depth knowledge to close a sale.

If you aren’t getting anywhere with your current sales attempts, the problem may be in your follow-up. Rethink how and when you are reaching out to your prospects, and that may be all you need to drive new sales and gain even more contacts for future potential sales.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Sole proprietors represent a huge majority of small businesses in America. That means many successful, even widely known business are run by one person—just one. If you have your own business or dream of jumping into an entrepreneurial endeavor someday, you may be a sole proprietor. Chances are, at least in the beginning, you will have to do it all on your own—from marketing to vacuuming, as there will be no one else available to help you get the job done.

There are many benefits to being a sole proprietor. You get to make all of decisions without debate. You can control when you work and how to go about your daily business. But, despite the many benefits to being on your own, you still have to find a way to get all the things done. Literally, all. the. things. How can you effectively run a business, have a personal life and still manage to not lose your mind? It’s hard, but you can take back control and regain some sanity by establishing a system and implementing a good bit of personal discipline. Here are the primary areas you may need to address:

• Financial management
• Communication
• Scheduling and calendar
• Project tracking
• Email management
• Time management
• Social media marketing

This seems like a long list, but if you can tame the above seven items, you can corral many of the business-related areas that tend to get out of control. Careful management of your time as it relates to your business will give you more opportunity to spend being fully engaged in the time that you spend away from work. You may be the captain, deck hand, crew and play every other role that pertains to the success of your small business, but it does not have to come in exchange of your sanity, friends or family.

Sole proprietors must find a way to make their businesses work for them, and not spend their entire lives working. Find a way to reign in the areas that tend to steal most of your time, making it a point not to work more, but to work more productively.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

You’re stuck—no growth, no excitement and stagnant profits. Where do you go from here? In these incredibly frustrating standstill moments, it can be difficult to know what to do next, and it’s easy to see why a complete rebranding or daring new marketing strategy is an attractive thought–but that may not be completely necessary. Sometimes, a simple shift in perspective can be all that is needed to move forward. Before you jump head-first into a costly and potentially unnecessary overhaul, think of the following ways you can improve, change and adjust your mindset:

• Priorities. By focusing on the wrong things, you could be holding yourself and your company back. Should you be investing your time and effort into a another area? Reprioritizing is simple, yet can be quite effective.
• Approach. Any type of business-related strategy should be a combination of both creativity and careful analysis. There is a need for balance, and too much of a good thing, one way or the other, could actually be a bad thing.
• Focus. Seeking authentic and sustainable growth requires you to think beyond right now. A forward-thinking mindset is more than wishful thinking; it can help you find creative solutions in challenging times as a business owner.

Changing your mindset also involves personal growth. As an entrepreneur, as you grow and change, so will your approach to running your business. Read, learn, seek counsel and research market trends—there is a practically endless list of ways you can improve yourself and initiate growth on various levels. If you change the way you think, it could very well change the way you do business, ultimately sparking growth and progress.

Before you throw all your existing strategies and plans out of the window, start by changing your mindset. Even small shifts in the way you think or approach a problem can give you an edge, push your business forward and help you connect with your target market in a new, fresh way.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

There are a lot of “tools” you need to survive as an entrepreneur: social media skills, the ability to close a sale, etc., but few people know how to effectively deal with stress. When you do not have stress management skills, it can take over your life, affect your health and eventually derail your career. Doing any kind of business is stressful from time-to-time, but you do not have to let these stresses take over your life. Even the most high-strung of us can learn how to confront stress and channel it productively, and if you can learn this skill, you may even be able to avoid a few ulcers and gray hairs.

When you start to feel a bit out of control, there are a few simple things you can do to avoid letting stress have a detrimental impact on multiple areas of your life, such as:

• Manage. There nothing like a mile-long to-do list to send you straight into panic mode. One of the best ways to make this less intimidating is to take larger tasks and break them down into smaller items. It’s kind of a mind trick, but it’s remarkable how multiple easier tasks are less intimidating than a few huge tasks.
• Prioritize. Hectic schedules are incredibly stressful. If you have too much to do, then stop trying to do all of it. It is quite possible that you have “non-priority” tasks on your list. Reevaluate your list, determine what is truly necessary at the time and do those things first.
• Move. Exercise is a productive way to deal with stress because it actually helps to improve brain chemistry. Something as simple as going for a walk, a hike or a short run can do wonders for improving your state of mind and getting you to a mental state that is better for dealing with stress.

These are certainly not the only ways that a person can effectively deal with stress. What works for you regarding stress management may not work for the next person, but you have to find out how you can positively, effectively walk through high-pressure times when you have too much to do and not enough time to do it. Stress is inevitable, but you don’t have to be a victim of it.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

It really doesn’t matter what type of business you have, if you are an entrepreneur, you will face the challenge of learning how to effectively be your own boss. As the driving force behind the success of your business, managing your goals, your whims and even your emotions can be some of the greatest personal challenges that you must overcome on your journey. The appeal of working for yourself and chasing your dreams can quickly become a nightmare scenario if you allow yourself to become ineffective, unmotivated and unprofitable.

As you chase your idea of success, whatever that may entail, you must simultaneously put significant effort into managing the expectations you have for yourself and others. Since there is no course you can take to learn how to “be your own best boss”, you can do the following simple things to help you play to your strengths:

• Learn time management. Leaving the world of office work does not magically eliminate your need for schedules and self-discipline. When you work for yourself, no one can make you get up and get going, yet alone schedule meetings, work sales or put in the legwork.
• Hire for your weaknesses, focus on your strengths. It’s really okay to admit to the areas where you are not gifted. From accounting to marketing, recognize where you need help and get it. Doing it all yourself saves money in the beginning, but with growth comes new challenges. If you can’t do it all well, it may be a sign that you need to look elsewhere for support.
• Find a leader. Mentors and business leaders are invaluable sources of information, support and inspiration. If you do not have someone to provide practical information and keep you on course, you may find great benefit in seeking out a mentor.

School cannot prepare you to be your own boss. Whether you quit your job in order to chase a specific vision or ended up running your own business by happy accident, managing yourself may be even more challenging than managing others and the various challenges that pop up. A little self-evaluation and a bit of hard work can help you become the best boss you’ve ever had.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC

Whether you watched the Oscars this past weekend or not, you’ve probably heard by this point that there was a major, historic and completely baffling mistake at the pinnacle of the program. The presenters were given the wrong envelope for Best Picture. The wrong movie was announced. The wrong cast, crew and directors came onstage and accepted the trophy. Eventually, someone came on stage, switched the envelopes and, finally, the actual winners came up. The result was a stage full of confused and embarrassed individuals and an audience full of shocked stars. How does a failure of that magnitude happen? Someone messed up, big time.

It turns out that an accountant tasked with the job of tallying the votes submitted the wrong envelope. That’s it. Just a mistake, but unfortunately for these individuals, this failure happened with the whole world watching. Have you ever felt like that—like everyone saw you mess up? To fail is human, but to fail in front of others can be excruciating. But there is good news about failure: it does not determine who you are. There is always something valuable to be learned, even if in the moment all you want to do is crawl in a hole and never come out.

Setbacks and mistakes happen. Get up gracefully, apologize when necessary and move forward. Failure can stop your forward momentum, but you have the power to decide if this is going to be just a “pause” in the journey or a full stop. Everyone experiences a “wrong envelope” moment at some point in their lives, but this in no way means that you are not qualified, not experienced, not smart enough or not capable to do what needs to be done. The accounting team that messed up at the Oscars may currently feel like the whole world is on their shoulders, but in a matter of a few days, the world will move on to the next viral moment.

People will move on from your failure, and you should give yourself permission to do the same. Learn from it, try not repeat it, but keep going. Failure is inevitable, but the good news is that you don’t have to be defined by that one moment.

By Meagan Kerlin for Vertu Marketing LLC